


Like a 45

by dizzy



Category: Glee RPF
Genre: Alternate Universe, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-07-27
Updated: 2015-07-27
Packaged: 2018-04-11 13:23:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,289
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4437026
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dizzy/pseuds/dizzy
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Darren meets a beautiful woman with a foul mouth, an amazing voice, and a sense of mystery that intrigues him.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Like a 45

Darren's in a karaoke bar in New York when he sees her for the first time. It's hard to miss her, really; tall and blonde and dressed to kill in a tiny black skirt and skinny, silver top that exposes a pale back right down to the dimples over her ass. He's a goner before he even sees her face, but when he does - his friends all whisper around him, smirk to themselves, because yeah... women that completely dominate him? That's kind of his style, and without even exchanging a word it's obvious she's the type. 

He practically has to stand in line to buy her a drink, but it's worth it when he slides onto the barstool. "Hi," he says, keeping his voice amiable to the point of over-enthusiasm. "I'm Darren!" 

Her ice blue eyes sweep over him, rimmed in dark. All of her makeup is wickedly exaggerated, cheekbones sculpted out and lips so dark a red they almost look black in the rainbow wash of bar lighting. Her voice is faintly accented when she says, "Aren't you a cute little morsel?" in a mocking harsh voice. 

Darren is undeterred. "So I'm told." He grins widely. "What are you drinking?" 

"This new cocktail called 'alone' - you might want to try it some time, take a break from your usual mixed drink of 'desperation.'" She spits out and then turns and stalks away. 

Well, at least Darren takes rejection as easily as he does everything else. 

* 

Darren is back the next Friday night, not with the particular aim of seeing her but more because this is actually his normal weekend hangout. He and his buddies, they hit Marie's on Friday and then make their way to a round of seedier places once they've sung their throats raw and entertained the locals who know to expect them. 

But she is there again and he is captivated by the sight of her dancing alone, limbs loose and moving to the music while men around her watch with similar expressions that give away their desire to join and fear of asking. 

Darren's never really let fear get in his way. He steps up to her, holding out a hand. "May I have this dance?" 

Her eyes look slightly bleary red and her makeup is smeared, though it's not even ten pm yet - laughably early for this kind of place. 

"Oh, isn't that sweet, a man actually asking as though he won't simply take what he wants regardless of the answer." Her head is tilted up defiantly, but there's a heart breaking undercurrent to her tone that stirs at the eternal people-pleaser, the court jester in him that just wants to make every smile. 

He drops his hand and takes a polite step back. "If the answer is no, I will completely accept it and walk away." 

He turns and is surprised at a touch on his arm. He looks down and sees chipped blue sparkling nail polish topping bitten down nails. "Fine. But only a dance." 

"Only a dance," Darren promises. 

* 

He keeps his promise and when the dance is over, walks away. 

She leaves the bar shortly after, alone. 

* 

The next time Darren sees her, she's singing. 

If he wasn't in love before, she is now. He waits until she slips away, realizing from the brief exchange at the bar and the retrieval of a credit card that she must be preparing to leave. 

He does weigh the next move he makes against his own mental gauge of creepiness, but in the end can't help himself from moving his way to just outside the door so he'll be able to catch her before she walks away. 

"You are amazing," he calls out, when he finally does see her. “Your voice is just - stunning. Seriously. You should be a singer.” 

She rolls her eyes. "Oh my good lord, it's you again. Stalking isn't becoming, did anyone ever told you? And it certainly doesn't mean you'll _be coming_. Though at least you recognize my talents, which is more than I can say for most of the miscreants polluting this godforsaken town."

“Tell me your name and I’ll make sure everyone knows it,” Darren says. “Come on. Just a name.” 

She hesitates for so long he's sure she'll just walk away before finally saying, "You can call me Hannah." 

"Hannah." Darren feels like a small war has just been won. He says it again just because he can. "Hannah, would you go on a date with me?" 

"A date?" She smirks at him. "If you want a blowjob in the back seat, you can just come out and ask for it. I'll say no, but watching your dignity crumble away will provide for a good night's entertainment." 

"Coffee, then. Doesn't have to be a date." He ignores the blowjob remark completely. 

"I like my coffee like my men like me," Hannah says absently, as she looks around. “Piping hot and freshly creamed.”

Darren almost chokes on absolutely nothing. "Oh my god, you're fucking hilarious."

She looks like she's trying not to look too pleased at that. 

"Please, seriously, you are someone I need to know in my life," Darren says. 

"If you want to see me again, you know where I'll be." Hannah waves her hand at the bar behind her. “Same time, same place.” 

"It's a date then!" Darren shouts after her, laughing and heading back inside. 

*

They sit at the bar. 

At least, Hannah sits at the bar and doesn't move when Darren joins her. 

"I'm Darren." 

"Deja vu," she says, appraising him. Tonight her makeup is lighter, her hair more of a golden where it looked white blonde the week before. "Isn't that the word for it, when a little creep you can't get rid of shows up yet again?" 

Darren pauses, serious for a moment. "If I'm creeping you out for real, I'll go away." 

She sighs deeply. "I suppose you're not as bad as some." 

"What? Like, some guys here?" Darren looks around like they'll be wearing a sigh. "If you have an issue with anyone just point them out." 

"What, so you can bite at their heels like an angry little puppy?" She laughs, but there's a twist to her smile that feels real. "No, the lovely men behind the count here - hello, Tom, darling! - they take care of me." 

"You're our girl," Tom says, passing by with a drink in each hand. He laughs like it's some kind of inside joke, and Hannah laughs too so maybe it is. 

*

They talk for almost an hour, mostly Darren though Hannah seems to listen well. He's half drunk and rambling and he knows it but he's used to audiences that don't mind. 

"What about you?" Darren asks, finally pausing. "What's your story?" 

"My story is so wild you have to pay to hear it," she says, pointedly looking down at her drink. 

Darren laughs and orders her another. 

* 

They walk out together. 

"Seriously," Darren says, touching her arm. She's taller than he is, so he has to look up slightly. "Go on a date with me. You're gorgeous and fascinating and I want to know more about you." 

She looks completely torn and then finally says. 

"What if I told you I was born a man?" She asks. 

Considering the height and muscle to her, Darren would be lying if he said the thought hadn't crossed his mind, but there's nothing insincere about his response. "If you told me that I would be absolutely honored that you'd share something so personal with me, and I'd reassure you that I'm not interested in you for what is or isn't in your pants. Or... under your skirt, I guess." 

I can't-" And suddenly, it's not Hannah at all. It's like Hannah is gone in a split second, the entire set of her face changing, her posture slumping, whatever line of steel keeping her so defiantly upright suddenly gone. There's a sharp, bitter laugh and the shake of a head, a high but miserable American voice that says, "I just can't do this." 

She stands up from the table, heels clacking in an entirely graceless way as she hurries out. 

*

Darren goes back one more time. 

Tom the bartender flags him down almost immediately, handing him a note. It's written and carefully sealed in an envelope. "Your friend dropped this off earlier, left it for you." 

Darren says goodbye to his friends, realizing that the only reason he was even there was to see if Hannah showed up. 

He gets out and down the block and opens the note. Inside is an address and a time with the scrawled message, _I'll be there if you want your date._

* 

He walks up to the coffee shop. 

Hannah's nowhere to be seen. The only one sitting around, the only waiting by himself is a man. Darren watches the man worry at a straw wrapper, watches his fingers pluck it apart - 

Sees blue chipped nail polish. Awareness hits him like a punch to the gut, stealing his breath. The jaw seems stronger, the eyes not as large, but the up-tipped nose and the point of the chin are the same. 

"Wow," he says, slightly breathless. His feet take him forward, pulling the chair in front of the man out and sitting down. "Wow." 

"Hi." The man gives him a nervous, slightly queasy smile. "So. Hi. I'm Chris." 

"Chris. Shit. Um. Just to be clear, you don't like - have a twin sister or anything-" 

Chris laughs. "No. Just, um, just me. I guess I owe you an explanation?" 

"I wouldn't turn one down," Darren says. 

"Hannah... doesn't exist. Actually," he laughs a little. "It actually is my sister's name, but she's not my twin and she lives in California. I'm just - Chris. I'm an actor and when you met me I was basically doing character study for this role I got. I haven't been announced yet, I haven't even started rehearsals, but I just wanted the chance to live as the character for a while. This is my first big role and they’re taking a chance on someone whose only experience is a tv show that tanked by the end and a movie I made myself. I want to take this seriously, I wanted to know I could just fully be the character. I wanted to live life as her a few times. I just... didn't really expect to... meet someone. Someone I liked." 

Pink cheeked and obviously embarrassed, Chris waits for Darren to respond. 

It takes Darren a second, because he's putting a few pieces together. The German accent, the blonde hair, the way Hannah carried herself. "Fuck me up the ass, you're playing Hedwig aren't you?" 

Chris seems to have no idea how to even respond to that. "I - wow - um, yes." 

"Oh my god." Darren laughs and presses his hands to his face, helplessly entertained by this turn of events. "Sorry, I'm just like, such a huge goddamn fan of that show and you - oh my god. That's amazing."

"Well, I'll be happy to comp you tickets to the show to make up for leading you on." 

That's an exciting enough prospect for Darren, but he realizes from the way Chris doesn't look entirely pleased that maybe he put emphasis on the wrong thing there. "You don't need to make up for anything," Darren says. 

"Don't I?" Chris asks. 

"Okay, well, if you think you do - just buy me a drink or something. Buy me tea, right now. And then you can tell me all about the exciting life of a Broadway actor." 

"Do you just want to drill me on Hedwig?" Chris asks, cautious. 

Darren shrugs. "A little bit. I mean, full disclosure, Hedwig was like… my first celebrity crush. But I'd also just... like to get to know you." 

"You're actually still interested?" Chris is definitely surprised. "Even though I'm not a woman. And I don’t look anything like what you were initially attracted to. Or act anything like that. Seriously, I’m like - the opposite of Hedwig. I write children’s books in my free time and I own a cat. I almost never date. My DVR is my best friend." 

"Not to offend the fond memory of Hannah, but..." Darren leans in close and says, "I actually think you're a hotter man than you were a woman. And as far as the rest - yeah. I really am just as interested in getting to know _you_. And maybe what’s on your DVR, too. If you’ve got some Downton Abbey on there, you may just be stuck with me because I have been dying to get caught up and by dumbass roommate deleted the whole last season." 

Chris goes pink again, but Darren's pretty sure it's not from embarrassment. “Well, you are definitely in luck. I haven’t deleted a single episode.”

*

He does get those comped seats Chris promised, but ends up buying a ticket anyway. The comped seats are further back and that just won’t do. He needs a front row center seat, needs the perfect vantage point to watch his new boyfriend perform to a packed house on opening night. 

He’s sure half the crowd will either go home and dream or jerk off to dark red lips and those insanely long legs. There’s just something about Chris, something about how he slips into the role… Afterwards he hangs near the doors, watching people leaved with dazed looks on their face.

He wants to give them all a sympathetic pat on the shoulder, because he’s totally been there. But luckily for him, he has something they don’t - the knowledge that the reality of the guy behind the role is even better.


End file.
